Military Matters
by Admeet
Summary: Follow a lone outsider; as he is brought into the world of the Slig military.


**Military Matters**

**Chapter 1**

Wasteland arrival

It was 7 hours before midnight, Scrabs were dancing on the scorching sand, rare Meech roars were echoing from distant lands. This wasteland was Scrabania.

Male Scrabs were starting their mating rituals and females bowing with caution, and then came the click and bang of a weapon. The Scrabs fled as a merciless outsider stepped out from the dark shadows. This outsider had metal, shiny legs, this outsider had green, rough skin, and this outsider was rare of his kind. This outsider was a Slig outlander.

With the click of a button on the outlander's weapon, a grey, rusty barrel unloaded its cargo, 6 silver bullets clattered on the dusty rocks. 6 more silver bullets were loaded, eager to fly into any innocent animal's flesh. This weapon was also scoped with a lens barrel with a diameter of 4 centi-metres. The scope was off scale, so it was made it equal with a target. This weapon was a Secreder 357. Magnum.

In the blazing heat, the outlander thought to himself "better make a kill for tonight's feast". He hastily made his way through the desert in search of a herd. Hours went past and when he finally found a family of Scrabs feasting on a dead Elum. He hid behind some shrubs and took aim at the sub-dominant male. Scope lined, barrel loaded, Scrab in range, BANG! The bullet carved a deep hole in the Scrab's head, its head was crippled, but it wasn't fully dead. The outlander took aim again, BANG! The bullet carved another deep hole in the Scrab's head, but this time, the ferocious animal went down.

The Scrab's face was in ruins. The outlander burrowed deep into the 2 holes to take out the scarlet smitten bullets that killed the mighty beast. The magnum was put away in a brown pocket knotted on the outlander's left leg. "Yet another satisfying catch" He thought to himself. The 2 scarlet bullets were also put away in the pocket to be used later.

As the sun started to slip away over the horizon, the outlander decided to find a suitable cover for the night. Eventually, when the slit of the sun slowly disappeared, he found himself a patch of shade covered by a huge boulder firmly held in a cliff face and some shrubs. The orange of the rock and desert slowly started to fade away as a dark blue started to appear on the rock face. The day finally came to a close and the ancient statues which belonged to an ancient civilization disappeared in the darkness. Unaware of the things happening around him, the outlander went into a light sleep.

**Chapter 2**

Military offence

Midnight, the cloud-free sky was shining with hundreds of bright stars. Not a sound was to be heard. The outlander silently slept through the dark night unaware of the silence around him. The moon shun with a dazzling light so bright that it was blinding to look at. The ancient statues were lit up by this dazzling spectacle. For the outlander however, times were going to get serious.

The outlander woke up. He found himself in a grey hanger. Unaware that long barrels were pointed towards him, he lifted himself of the floor. The long barrels came closer to him; he knew he was trapped; at gunpoint.

He looked around; other Sligs similar to him were pointing SMGs at him. They took aim, took hold of their triggers but they were silenced by a tall, slim figure shadowed by the hanger wall. He stepped out; he had a badge on his black suit saying "No-man's land is my land". He puffed away at a lit cigar. He shuffled over to the outlander. He leant over and he spoke in a muffled voice "you are not alone here". He slowly walked off to a reinforced door and the outlander was suddenly darted in the neck. His vision began to get blurry as the Sligs walked over to him. He finally crashed to the floor, unconscious. Only the metal legs of the Sligs could be heard.

All was dark, blankness filled the air, and the outlander woke with a hazy vision. Then in a blinding display, 4 lamps shone brightly around the room. He gazed around the room, looking for a possible exit. Unfortunately, none were to be found. He stood up, wandering what was going on. His magnum had disappeared, bullets and everything. He was defenceless.

He was lying on a very scruffy bed covered with dirt and dust. He sat up and saw he was in his own private room, complete with desk, door and furniture. It was unfortunate that his magnum wasn't here; it would have completed the whole collection. He just sat there, confused and drowsy. "Wonder what this place will do to me".

**Chapter 3**

Straight into battle

The door opened, a Slig called for him "General Sleg has scheduled you for a fight in the battle grounds, follow me". He hastily followed the Slig. He was lead to a rusty blast door. "Through here" the Slig said. The outlander saw open land and it was pure desert. Only a few barrels and boxes lay beside the dusty brown rocks. "Here's your magnum" said the Slig giving the magnum back to the outlander. The Slig walked back into the corridor with his legs acting like pistons to support his body. The blast door closed.

The outlander was all alone. Then the screeching of a loudspeaker revealed it's self to be the muffled voice. "Testing, testing" the voice said out of the loud speaker. "Welcome to the Slig barracks, my name is General Sleg and you will be now known as Admeet Slig Number 75". The newly named outlander was confused on what was going on. "This will be your first training program; basically you'll shoot at anything in your path, Scrabs, obstacles blocking your path and get to the end of the circuit" Said General Sleg. Admeet's confusion was starting to fade away. "I think I'm going to like it here" he thought to himself. He instantly loaded his magnum with the silver bullets the Slig gave to him. Magnum loaded, confidence rising, "lets rock".

Admeet instantly went for it; he saw the first Scrab and took aim. BANG! The first bullet went straight into one of the Scrab's legs. The Scrab, crippled and confused, fell to the floor with one of its legs bleeding out scarlet blood. Yanking out the scarlet smitten bullet out of the Scrab's leg, he carried on to find his goal.

The heat from the sun was unbearable for most creatures out in the desert, but Admeet carried on with haste. This time, 2 Scrabs were in the way. He took aim, pulled the trigger. BANG! The first Scrab went down but the second was coming right for him. He took aim again, pulled the trigger. BANG! The second Scrab went down and slid against the floor with the Scrab's head right at Admeet's legs. Admeet pushed on.

This time, it was 2 Sligs who were going to shoot at Admeet. They took aim with lightning reactions. Luckily, a steel box was beside Admeet and he rolled behind the box and took cover. Bullets were ricocheting everywhere, of rocks, barrels but mostly the box. The box was dented and marked with bullet holes. The 2 Sligs had to reload their weapons, so this was Admeet's chance to shoot back. BANG! BANG! BANG! 2 bullets went through one Slig but the other one missed the other Slig. So he went for it. The Slig was still reloading at the time; So Admeet bashed the Slig with the butt of the magnum. The Slig went down unconscious and Admeet carried on to the finishing point. "Very good Admeet" said General Sleg's voice from the loud speaker. "You are well trained in combat". "You may go back to your quarters". Admeet looked confused again. "I'll need somebody to show me to it" he said. "Off course, I'll get somebody to show you". Admeet felt great, this wouldn't be a bad place after all. An escort came out of the blast door and Admeet was on his way back to his quarters.

**Chapter 4**

Meeting place

As night fell, Admeet lied on his bed and thought to himself. He wouldn't bother escaping. Not when he has all of this.

The door opened again. The Slig who escorted him to the battle grounds said "you have been invited to the general's watch tower; I'll show you how to get there". Admeet stood up and followed the Slig. "By the way, my name is Zaypher; I will be escorting you wherever you like now and if you are ordered to go visit someone or some place". "Thanks" said Admeet. As the two wandered down to the watch tower, the other Sligs snoozed on their beds through the cold night. Strangely, every Slig was snoozing out little Z's out of their mouth, and then they would pop in the air. "It's a bit strange that" said Zaypher "no one really knows why that happens". Zaypher showed Admeet the lift to the other levels of the complex and of course, the watch tower. "You'll want the top floor to the watch tower" said Zaypher. "Thanks see you around" said Admeet "see you" replied Zaypher as he disappeared through the corridor.

The glass lift went at a steady, upwards pace and Admeet waited for a bit until the lift came to a steady stop at the top floor. There waiting for him in his black suit complete with badge and cigar was General Sleg himself.

"It has come to my attention that you don't belong in the military complex" said the general, "Your records indicate that you were once an outsider, it is pretty rare when an outsider is captured for military use". "Well my abilities in the military are at use" said Admeet, "Even when certain death is near but yet somehow, I always seem to get away from it". "You are pretty tough and skilled for an outsider who hasn't been had proper military training" said the general, "and we can help you succeed with your goals and aims when you've got this whole H.Q. to play with; literally. You have two choices. You can properly join us in our fight for survival against the terrorists and savage creatures, or you can be released into the desert wastelands when death's door is right in front of you". Admeet definitely knew what answer he was going to choose. "I will join you" Admeet replied in a short answer. "Very good" said the general and with that, he gave Admeet a badge saying "fight for your friends, fight for your life". "You are now part of the Slig Military Garrison, SMG for short" said the general, "you are dismissed". "Thank you" said Admeet and with that, he stepped onto the lift and pushed the button. "I look forward to see you in action" said the general before the lift started its journey down to ground level.

**Chapter 5**

Wasteland battle

Admeet was back in his room again. It was still the middle of the night when he reached the door to his room. All was very quiet, even the snoozing of the other Sligs in their rooms couldn't be heard. Admeet lay on his bed and slowly closed his eyes. The corridors were soundless; no one was making a noise. Only a few Ratz scurried around looking for anything interesting.

Suddenly, the ear-splitting noise of the alarms went off. The Ratz, caught by surprise, sped off down the corridors. Admeet sat up and he saw out of the door window an exodus of Sligs rushing towards something. Then Zaypher rushed into Admeet's room and yelled "come on Admeet, we've got hostiles attempting to invade the complex". Admeet immediately followed Zaypher into the corridors and into the exodus. While running, he saw many Sligs stationed around the battle ground and some near the Hanger. He was led to the entrance to the complex which was a huge metal door with the outside surrounded with barbed wire. He saw some manned turrets posted by the door and some remote turrets by the barricades. He also saw some rigged shotguns and SMG's with the triggers attached to string and to pressure pads. He took out his revolver, checked the barrel and waited for the hostiles to come within range. The other Sligs waited patiently with SMG's in their hands, some even had hand grenades attached to their legs. "Now we wait" whispered Zaypher. "Now we wait" replied Admeet with a quiet laugh.

Minutes went past, still nothing in sight. The Sligs waited and waited and still nothing came. Then out in the distance, came an almighty roar which was absolutely deafening. Then on the horizon, appeared at least 100 Scrabs running straight at the complex. "Scrabs" yelled a Slig commander. "Take your places". Immediately, every gun was cocked and ready to fire. The Scrabs came closer and the Sligs took aim. "Aim" yelled the Slig commander. The Scrabs came ever closer looking to strike. The Sligs became nervous and took hold of their triggers. "Fire" shouted the Slig commander and the weapons unleashed their power on the Scrabs.

Only a few of the Scrabs went down when the Sligs had to reload and that's when the Scrabs formed their attack. Their sharp beaks went straight through the Sligs' flesh and a mass of scarlet blood was flying everywhere. The rigged shotguns and SMG's fired madly when the Scrabs stepped on the pressure pads. Admeet ran for a barricade to reload as the Scrabs advanced. Zaypher was nowhere to be seen. General Sleg watched anxiously in the watch tower to see if the Sligs would turn the tides of the battle.

At least an hour and a half past before the Sligs gained an upper foot hold of the battle. The Scrabs went down one by one until the last of them shrieked in terror and fell to the ground. Victory was in the Sligs' hands. But it wasn't over yet.

The loud roar was heard again and out in the distance, a huge Scrab with armour plating came running straight towards the few remaining Sligs. Admeet shook in terror as this would be a challenge. The Sligs fired without warning with the bullets hitting the Scrabs armour like if they were made of plastic. The Scrab lunged at the Sligs and tore them apart. The only ones left now were Admeet and Zaypher. Admeet immediately aimed and fired. The bullet pierced one of the Scrab's patches of skin between the legs. The Scrab shrieked in pain as blood poured out of the wound. The Scrab's leg was crippled and Admeet aimed again. The loud bang came out of his magnum again. The bullet pierced the armour and went straight through the Scrab's torso. Shrieking in pain, the Scrab went down and the blood from its wounds surrounded Admeet's legs.

The battle was won and Admeet could finally rest through the harsh night. Zaypher immediately joined him. "How did your bullets pierce through that armour?" said Zaypher. "Well it's a very powerful magnum. The bullet flies very fast through the air and is able to pierce very thick armour" replied Admeet. "General Sleg will probably award you for your bravery" said Zaypher. The two went down the corridors and to Admeet's room and with that, Zaypher went to his room and Admeet lied on his bed and closed his eyes.

**Chapter 6**

Unexpected Arrival

As the sun rose over the horizon, Admeet slowly opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head. The room was brightly lit by the four lights on the ceiling. Many of the Sligs were still snoozing away. Admeet slowly stood up and picked up his magnum which was lying on the desk. He walked to the door and quietly opened it. He saw nothing down the corridors except the few Ratz bouncing into the cracks in the walls.

Then, Admeet heard a loud banging noise coming from one of the blast doors. He rushed to the door and put his head against the door. He heard the muffled voice of another Slig shouting "help me, for god sakes help me"! Admeet rushed to the blast door emergency release panel and the blast door opened violently. The Slig collapsed into Admeet's arms, exhausted and badly injured. "Help, we need a medic here" yelled Admeet. Instantly, a whole parade of Sligs, including 4 medics, came rushing down the corridor and stopped immediately in front of Admeet. One medic came and took the injured Slig off Admeet's arms and carried him towards the medical centre. The parade of Sligs followed the medic.

Admeet just stood there, staring at the door. "Where did that Slig come from" he wondered; Zaypher joined Admeet as he stood there. "5 years ago exactly, one of our soldiers went of into the wasteland in search of a rare liquid that was crucial for our survival, he never came back. A possibility was that he was captured by rouge Sligs like you but much worse. 5 months later, a group of Slig scouts found a source of this rare liquid that wasn't far from the complex, we continued to survive through the harshest parts of our lives" said Zaypher while looking at Admeet. "What was the Slig's name and what was this liquid he was looking for?" asked Admeet anxiously. "His name was Vankor, one of the best elite soldiers in the whole battalion. The liquid he was looking for was water" said Zaypher. "Water!" said Admeet confusingly, "why is water rare now?" "8 years ago, The Slig Battalion fought against the Legion of Scrabs, a powerful force destroying anything in their way. The battle ended in the battalion being nearly destroyed, and then our top scientists back at the complex devised a way to destroy all the water around the wasteland. By making a virus which destroyed the fabric of water, the Scrabs and all the other animals around the area started too died out, only we Sligs were hardy enough to survive massive dehydration and drought. Thankfully, we unexpectedly found a fresh water source in one of the underground caves nearby. Somehow, that source of water wasn't destroyed" Zaypher explained to Admeet. "I might want to look at this water source and find out where it had come from" said Admeet. "If you say so, but I must warn you, the place is crawling with lab grown Paramites. Find one and you are fine, but find a whole pack and your part of their main meal" said Zaypher cautiously, "we'd better head to the medical centre quickly to see how Vankor is". Admeet nodded his head and the two headed towards the medical centre with immediate haste.

**Chapter 7**

Rough Words

Admeet and Zaypher finally arrived at the medical centre. The two peered through one of the windows in a clinic; Vankor struggled and moaned on the operating theatre. Deep wounds in Vankor's skin oozed out crimson blood; soon the table was covered with the thick liquid. "Keep the blood from pouring out of the wounds" shouted one of the medics. A few Interns plodded over towards Vankor and placed some translucent pipes in the wounds. The blood drained through the pipes and into a large metal canister. One of the medics came out of the infirmary door and stood beside Admeet and Zaypher.

"He's in a terrible condition" said the medic quietly, "though he will recover". "Do you think he may be pulled out from action for life?" asked Admeet anxiously. "There is a possibility that he may heal enough to fight another day, but I doubt if that would happen" replied the medic. "I need to go in the infirmary and see if I can speak to him" said Admeet. "Ok but you need to be aware of Vankor's condition, any slight pressure on those wounds could cause a huge internal spasm; the pain would be unbearable" said the medic as he opened the door into the infirmary. Admeet stepped into the infirmary and the Interns stepped away from the table and controlled the various apparatus surrounding the table. Admeet Stood beside Vankor and peered into the struggling Slig's eyes. Vankor looked back in agony, his eyes barely opening; just narrow slits could be seen.

"What happened out there" asked Admeet very softly. Vankor began to breathe heavily; a sign that he was about to say something. "Scrabs, water, couldn't save myself" Whispered Vankor coughing out small lumps of flesh in the middle of every word. His breathing was terrible; he couldn't cough without spilling blood onto the table. "He's bleeding internally" said Admeet to one of the Interns. The other Interns quickly gathered around Vankor and quickly sedated him. "Hopefully with Vankor sedated, he shouldn't cough out any blood and the drug should heal the wounds in his organs and vessels" said the medic outside to Zaypher. Admeet soon came through the door and joined Zaypher and the medic. "Some conversation" said Zaypher with a quiet chuckle. Admeet looked through the window. He was determined to find that water source and save the complex from mass dehydration. "I must set up an expedition to find this water source" said Admeet. "Are you crazy" yelled Zaypher, "you can't just walk into those caves without suitable protection; you'll be eviscerated by the Paramites if you don't". "I know" said Admeet, "but for some reason, I'm not scared of them, even if they will hunt me down". "Well okay but you'll have to be very careful in those caves, you may never know what your up against" said Zaypher. "I always know what I'm up against, you just have to look closely" said Admeet. And with that, Admeet and Zaypher walked out of the infirmary and down to the armoury. Admeet would know that he would be doing a huge favour; a favour that would save the inhabitants of the military complex.

**Chapter 8**

Different Journey

Inside the Armoury, Admeet chose his weapons and armour and prepared to set of to find the water source. The two hurried on down to the main entrance to the complex. "I'll hurry on back immediately once I've found this water source" said Admeet, I'll use this map containing the directions to the source and if any problems occur, I'll use this radio to report back". "Okay, good luck out there, you're going to need it" said Zaypher. "Thanks" replied Admeet as he pushed the button to open the blast door. The endless expanse of open wasteland was in view now, with the blazing sun to complete the picture. Admeet set of into the wasteland and the blast door closed with a loud crash.

As Admeet walked on towards the source, the military complex began to get blurry due to the heat haze. A circle of tall rock columns came into view and the barren expanse of the wasteland carried on and on. He soon reached the location of the source which was inside the circle of rock columns. However, there was no spring or oasis in sight. He soon found out (with a bit of searching) that the exact location of the source was inside a cave. However, he didn't notice the many see-through webs and silk-like ropes around the columns. Admeet picked up the radio from the brown pocket knotted onto his leg. "Zaypher, are you there" Admeet said down the radio. "Yeah I'm here" replied Zaypher on the other side. "I've found the location of the source" said Admeet down the radio, "it's in a cave directly in the middle of a circle of rock columns". "Okay, we will mark the location on the digital map" replied Zaypher with some interference from the radio. However, his luck was about to change. Just as Admeet put the radio back in the pocket, a pack of Paramites came out from the entrance to the cave. They eyed Admeet down and immediately found that Admeet was a hostile. They all hissed at the same time and started running towards Admeet. Admeet started to run to but away from the Paramites.

After at least 2 minutes, the Paramites started to slow down but as soon as they stopped, Admeet heard a deafening roar. A pack of Scrabs, led by an alpha Scrab, started running towards Admeet. They weren't after Admeet however, they were after the Paramites. The Scrabs and the Paramites soon started to fight and Admeet slipped away into the cave unharmed.

The cave was lit up by strange lights coming from the numerous webs created by the Paramites. Admeet instantly found the water source which was only a couple of yards away from the entrance. This source wasn't shallow however, it was very deep; deeper then one would expect. He immediately walked beside the source and peered through the crystal-clear water. He saw a large tunnel stretching downwards. The only way to see where this tunnel led to was by diving into the water. So Admeet left his magnum and the radio on the ground and immediately dived down into the water. The water seemed fine until a minute later. Admeet realised that his skin was starting to burn. By 30 seconds, the pain was unbearable. He swam to the surface and leapt out just in time. It was lucky that Admeet didn't swallow any of the water. Admeet coughed and spluttered and immediately picked up the radio.

"Zaypher", "yeah" replied Zaypher with a hazy signal. "We can't use this water" said Admeet down the radio. "What?" yelled Zaypher on the other end of the radio "I know, but it's been contaminated with some sort of radiation which can burn the skin and the insides of your body". "Well head back to the complex and we will devise a plan to find the source of this radiation" said Zaypher. "Ok, how's Vankor doing" asked Admeet. "He's feeling better but his condition is still grave" replied Zaypher, "we are still trying to make him speak but we have no success". "Ok, I'll head on back" said Admeet. As he came out of the cave, the Scrabs and Paramites were still fighting for the source; "what a waste of time" Admeet thought to himself with a quiet chuckle. He was confident to venture into the abyss and find that radiation source and destroy it for good. However, what he didn't know was that this was going to be trickier than it looked. Admeet had to be prepared for the worst.

**Chapter 9**

Plan of Attack

Admeet soon arrived back at the complex; Zaypher was waiting beside the blast door to welcome Admeet back. "It is good that you are back" said Zaypher as he opened the blast door, "We've figured out a way to combat the effects of this radiation. When we fought against the Legion of Scrabs, our top scientists designed a special type of suit which would be able to withstand the pressure in the deepest depths and withstand the effects of radiation. Now that you say that this deep water source is contaminated with radiation, this is a good time to use this suit". The two walked towards military briefing room.

The briefing room was like any room in the complex except this one had a massive digital map on a metal table in the middle of the room. There were data machines, giant calculators and more science equipment then you could shake a stick at; the room was large too. "Now, down to business" said a dark figure standing in a shadow created by the one of the giant calculators. The figure was General Sleg smoking a cigar as usual. He started to walk towards the map. Another Slig also started walking towards the map with a strange baton in his hand.

"We shall now plan our plan of attack" said the Slig with the baton held over the map. The baton touched the map and it started to show vast data (ones and zeros mostly) and two revolving pictures of the cave in the rock column circle and the special suit Zaypher talked about. "From what I saw of the water source, there was a very deep tunnel stretching downwards" said Admeet, "when I dived into the radiated water, I started to realize that my skin was starting to burn, that's why we need that special suit. I never saw the source of the radiation when I was in the water, so my suggestion is that the radiation source is located at the other end of the tunnel". "Then we need some sort of special vehicle to venture down into those depths, we can't just swim down there, it would take at least a day to reach the other end" said Zaypher. "Ah ha" said the Slig with the baton with a slight chuckle, "we've got that covered. Again during the battle against the Legion of Scrabs, we designed a special vehicle to combat the Harshness of land, the pressure of water and the lethalness of radiation; it's almost like the suit except it can hold as much as 10 Sligs in one trip. We call the vehicle the All-Terrain Transport; A.T.T for short". "What equipment does it have" asked Admeet. "It has the latest in Slig technology" replied the Slig with the baton, "Retractable legs that adapt to land or water, a pressure hatch for underwater missions, an advanced command centre to record the missions and equip the Sligs with the equipment needed, and remote control turrets that focus on any enemy that comes to close; its just small enough to fit down the underwater tunnel in the cave". "Great, as soon as we get the equipment loaded onto the A.T.T and gather all the Sligs we need, we will set of tomorrow morning" said Admeet, "Agreed?" "AGREED" they said all together.

As the meeting came to a close, Admeet and Zaypher started to head towards their rooms. As Admeet reached his room, Zaypher turned right towards his room. Admeet opened the door to his room and sat down on his bed. He had to know what he was up against, know one knows what would be waiting at the other end of that tunnel. Admeet started to close his eyes and started to fall asleep. Tomorrow would be the finest hour of his life.


End file.
